Electronic or video gaming machines in casinos, such as slot machines or electronic bingo games, typically have accepted coins to be wagered. These coins have typically been dispensed as winnings. This left a player of the machine to carry a large quantity of coins to a cashier for conversion into paper bills or other such convenient form. Furthermore, if the machine did not have sufficient coins in its hopper to pay the player, long waits typically occurred while an attendant filled the hopper with more coins. As a result, the casino industry has been moving toward cashless gaming systems where the player receives a voucher in lieu of coins when “cashing out” of a gaming machine. One such cashless gaming system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,330 to Cannon (the '330 patent).
The '330 patent discloses a cashless gaming system and method of transferring a monetary value in the cashless gaming system. The cashless gaming system includes a plurality of gaming machines and a plurality of change machines. The cashless gaming system also includes a central processing system in communication with the gaming machines and change machines. The central processing system includes a processor and memory. When a player elects to “cash-out” of one of the gaming machines, the monetary value of the gaming machine is transferred to the memory of the central processing system. A memory address corresponding to the monetary value is then encrypted and printed as a bar code on a ticket. The ticket is issued from the gaming machine to the player. The player can then take the ticket to another gaming machine or a change machine. When inserted in the other gaming machine or the change machine, the bar code is read and the memory address is decrypted. The central processing system then transfers the monetary value associated with the memory address to the machine.
Although the '330 patent provides an adequate system and method for transferring a monetary value, the system and method remain vulnerable to security breaches. For example, if an unauthorized person were to access the central processing system, it may be possible to change the monetary value corresponding to a particular memory address. This may allow the unauthorized user to increase the amount received when the ticket is redeemed.
The present invention is aimed at the problem identified above.